India resumes random Covid testing at airports amid concerns
New Delhi, Dec 22 (EFE).- India on Thursday resumed carrying out random Covid testing at airports for passengers arriving in international flights, even as infections have been surging in neighboring China and there are concerns that new variants of the virus could enter the country.
“From today onwards, 2 percent covid RT PCR random sampling of foreign return passengers has begun at international airports,” Indian Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya told the parliament.
The minister urged provincial governments to remain alert, “especially minding the upcoming festivals and New Year to make people aware to wear masks, sanitization of hands and taking care of respiratory hygiene and maintaining distance.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Thursday set to meet health authorities to evaluate new measures in light of the situation in China, where infection figures have surged after the easing of restrictions, despite the official data not reflecting all the infections.
Earlier this week, the Indian health ministry issued a circular to regional governments to increase vigilance against the coronavirus, with the aim of detecting new variants as soon as they enter the country.
Even though the number of fresh cases in the country has remained low – with less than 200 daily infections recorded in recent weeks – the fresh surge in cases in countries such as Japan, South Korea, the United States, Brazil and especially China, has set alarm bells ringing in India.
The South Asian nations has been one of the worst affected by the pandemic, with over 44.6 million cases and 530,680 deaths documented so far, although international bodies such as World Health Organization have estimated that the real death toll could have been as high as 4.7 million.
The second coronavirus wave to hit India was especially virulent and resulted in daily case loads of over 35,000 and more than 3,700 daily deaths at its peak in May 2021, triggering a chronic oxygen shortage in the hospitals. EFE
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